an: See season 3, episodes 15-17.
How did this happen? She was supposed to be safe! He couldn't believe it, any of it; the body in his arms, the smell in the air. How had she even ended up here, on the planet they had both been over-joyed to escape, where no one deserved to be? Dooku? The Master? Who else could know of her existence, would care about a slave of the Master's?
Grunts sounded from beyond the entrance to the hut. He pulled his burden to his chest, rocking in a strange room on a planet not strange enough. Whoever had put her here would suffer.
But first, those directly responsible for her death. He stood and ignited his lightsaber, the red glow contesting with the small fire pit in the middle of the hut to wreathe his face in shadows. By the end of the night, he was the only living biped in the area.
"Ugh." Ahsoka raised her head, shaking it gently from side to side to clear it, feeling her lekku brush against her shoulders at the motion. Light streamed into the cockpit, and last she knew they were in space. "What happened? Are we still in the Chrelythiumn system?"
"I'm not sure," Master Obi-Wan replied. She could see him rubbing his head with one hand while checking the ship's computer with the other. "We might be inside that strange shape we saw in space."
"Inside?" Ahsoka couldn't help the incredulity in her voice. Through the front viewport she could see lush yet bizarre plants, leaves stretching in the bright sunlight. It was beautiful, but Ahsoka felt unsettled. Her skin tingled and her montrals hummed. "Can you feel that?"
"Yes. The Force is strong on this planet, or whatever it is. Perhaps this is where the ancient Jedi distress signal came from." Even in distress, his voice was even. Master Obi-Wan flicked a few switches, attempting to raise Rex. They were supposed to meet Rex at the location of the distress signal, but despite making contact right before their blackout, Ahsoka and Master Obi-Wan had been unable to see Rex's ship. The whole situation was odd, no doubt about that.
Ahsoka sighed and stretched her neck quickly before turning to her own controls. The ship was functional at least, and there were no angry inhabitants threatening them. Yet. She turned on the scanner to make a check. You could never be sure where the droid army was. The screen powered up.
She blinked at the screen in surprise. Most of the screen was empty, as it scanned for ships and other metallic objects and not plants, but there was a blip on the screen. "Uh, master?"
"What is it?" He was adjusting a dial, flipping the switch on and off, and turning the dial again.
"There's another ship here." She pointed at the spot on the screen that flashed in the dull red background, indicating a ship.
At that Master Obi-Wan forgot about the communications array. He scrambled to look at the scanner. "What?"
"Do you think it's Rex?" Ahsoka hazarded, looking out the port again. The plants were furling and unfurling lethargically, she realized. They weren't carnivorous. She hoped.
He shook his head, settled back into his chair staring to the side of the scanner. "No, that's not possible. His ship couldn't land here."
"An escape pod?" Her stomach roiled uncomfortably in time with the plants. Ahsoka directed her gaze back at the safely blinking red light framed by gray metal. "Or any of the fighters. He could have sensed we needed help."
Master Obi-Wan frowned. "I'm not sure. And everything here should be in working order, so we don't actually need help."
"Whatever, Master." Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "Next time you land a ship without knowing how you got there, I won't send back up."
"You'd leave your master stranded?" Master Obi-Wan flipped a hand in the air. "And here I thought I taught you well. For that, you can greet our fellow stranded first."
He ushered her to the door, with Ahsoka protesting the whole way. She was distracted from her protests by making sure her datapad had the location of the other ship, not that anyone really had the verbal upper-hand with Master Obi-Wan.
The ramp lowered and the humid air hit Ahsoka, stirring vague memories of a jungle forest back on her homeworld. She let the thought be, practiced from years of releasing personal attachment, and noted the world around her. The plants looked brighter-she should see about cleaning the viewport-and even little blades of grass were straining towards the sun, unmoved by a breeze. "This planet gives me the creeps," she said, carefully stepping on small islands of dirt in a sea of foliage.
"That makes two of us." Master Obi-Wan purposefully stomped some steps past her. "Come along, Ahsoka. They only way they'll eat you is if you stand around." Ahsoka shook her head, chagrined grin on her face. Sometimes Master Obi-Wan seemed psychic.
She scuttled after him, resolutely not staring at the ground or flora. Once she caught up she whispered out of the corner of her mouth, "I just have the feeling that we're being watched."
He nodded in agreement and avoided a reaching branch. Ahsoka blanched, evading it in turn. As they tromped along she opened herself to the Force, and immediately felt a deluge of power surge through her. She shielded her mind and focused on the datapad in her hand. It wasn't that the place felt bad, she decided, but that it felt too much.
"Hm." She bumped into her halted master. The datapad indicated they had arrived, so she peered around Master Obi-Wan's form to see a ship of a similar size to theirs but of an unclear make, the only defining aspect being that it was unremarkable. "I recognize this ship."
"You do?" Ahsoka folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. "You really do know everything, Master.
"Hardly." Master Obi-Wan eyed the ground. "Judging by those footprints, I'd say Lars has left already."
"Lars?" She glanced around for the footprints, noting humanoid tracks (larger than Master Obi-Wan's) near the ship's exit. "Wait, you mean that guy from Florrum? The Separatist that rescued Dooku and ruined the ransom?"
"He actually wasn't that bad of company," Master Obi-Wan objected, "for a Separatist. But why is he here?"
Ahsoka kept her silence. He could hardly be here for the same reason as them, he wasn't a Jedi. Perhaps her unease came from Lars rather than the planet; a non-Jedi on a Force planet-thing, and worse, a Separatist that helped Count Dooku escape justice. She had teased Master Obi-Wan when he got back from being captured by pirates, but to her, Lars was bad news. A pressure on her foot forced her to look down at a root probing her shoe. She quickly moved a few feet away. Lars and the planet were bad news.
Meeting the planet's inhabitants didn't help, all three of them. The Son gave her the creeps, which made sense, since he was aligned with the dark side of the force, but the Daughter also gave her the creeps, and the Daughter was on the light side of the force. The Father claimed to be a balance, and Ahsoka didn't know what to make of that either. Sure, there were prophecies of a Chosen One bringing balance to the force, but what did that mean? Was the Father truly a balancing force, or on the light side because he kept the dark at bay? Would it be bad if he let the light side overpower the dark? And why had he brought them here? Ahsoka didn't know the answers to these questions. All she knew was that the best times on the planet were at twilight, when the plants no longer grasped but hadn't withered into black sticks. And that the name of the planet was Mortis, the three inhabitants had mentioned that.
"Ah, there you are, Lars," Master Obi-Wan addressed the man crouching by the second ship, interrupting Ahsoka's musings. "We've been looking all over for you."
"All over," Ahsoka emphasized, crossing her arms. The Father had been no help in trying to find Lars. The Son had laughed in their faces. The Daughter had looked reticent and spouted truisms rather than answering. Master Yoda would fit in here; Ahsoka wouldn't mind spending more time with Rex and the troops. They said what they meant.
"Obi-Wan!" Lars stood up and approached, brushing his gloved hands on his breeches. He was taller than Master Obi-Wan, Ahsoka noted. A tall, athletic human, but not bearded. Not for the first time she wondered what was easier for Master Obi-Wan, trimming or shaving his face clean. He was certainly attached to his facial hair. "Who's this?"
"This is my padawan, Ahsoka." Master Obi-Wan gestured to her.
"Ahsoka Tano, pleasure to meet you," Ahsoka added.
"Likewise." Lars nodded at her, then tossed his arms wide. "You've found me. How can I help?"
"Has the Father said anything more to you about why we're here?" Master Obi-Wan pressed. "I'm afraid he has been rather...obtuse."
"About everything." Ahsoka slapped a plant from her shoulder. "He wouldn't say where you were, either. Or why you're here along with us."
Lars grimaced. "I think that was a mistake."
"The Force does not make mistakes," Master Obi-Wan remonstrated, and Ahsoka rolled her eyes. Lars grinned at her, and Ahsoka was relieved not to have two adults staring disapprovingly at her. Master Obi-Wan returned his attention to Lars. "I will admit the inclusion of you does confuse me-"
"Because I'm not a Jedi?" Lars's eyebrow quirked.
Master Obi-Wan waved his hand. "Exactly. Why would a non-Jedi come to the site of an ancient Jedi distress signal?"
"That's why you're here?" They nodded, and Lars lapsed into thoughtful silence. Ahsoka watched him shake a vine off his leg.
When he took to long to continue talking, she prompted him, "And you're here because..?" There was no way that she was going to let him avoid the question.
He coughed uncomfortably. "Forgive me if I don't want to tell two Jedi why a Separatist was in the system."
"So espionage," Master Obi-Wan hazarded. Lars shrugged at the accusation and Master Obi-Wan sighed, and added, "Well, if you need any assistance leaving, we'll help."
"Master," Ahsoka chided, panic rising in her throat. "If he's a spy-"
"Not now, Ahsoka," Master Obi-Wan checked her comment, and her jaw dropped in dismay. This was a legitimate concern! They were at war, and this man was the enemy, had aided the Separatist leader!
"But Master! If he's really a spy-"
"Ahsoka," Master Obi-Wan warned, eyes glinting and jaw tightening. She didn't understand. Why was Master Obi-Wan's regard for hospitality higher than his regard for common sense? But he usually had a reason, and even if he was often disapproving of her blunt approach they both learned from each other.
She huffed and folded her arms. "Fine."
Lars coughed again, reminding them of his presence. "I appreciate that. I'm going to try to take-off now, but I'll wait around until you two are out of the atmosphere."
"Thank you," Master Obi-Wan replied. Lars headed back to his ship, but called back to the pair.
When Ahsoka deigned to look over Lars smiled and winked. "Keep him on his toes, Snips." He saluted and soon the door hissed shut behind him.
"Snips?" she questioned, but Master Obi-Wan chuckled and she huffed again. She was not that touchy. Not matter how personable this guy acted, she didn't like him.
They moved away from the exhaust ports when the engines roared to life. The plants retracted from the landing gear as it pulled into the ship, the ship gently lifted and turned, repulsor lifts flaring. Once Lars got above the treetops he raced into the sky.
Master Obi-Wan breathed out slowly. "We should take off, too."
"Master, wait." Ahsoka narrowed her eyes to watch the ship. Something black and bird-like was approaching it. The two met in the sky, but she couldn't see well enough to tell what was going on. Soon, one dark blot hurled to the ground.
Master and padawan took off running.